New Delhi, Nov 21 : The number of companies mentioning labour shortage in their quarterly earnings filings globally increased by 28 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021, a new report showed on Monday. This shows a continuous uptrend that was witnessed in recent years, while sentiment fell by 20 per cent, reveals GlobalData, a leading data analytics company. Semiconductor and supply were another top keywords discussed around the topic. The industries with the highest labour shortage discussions include construction, technology, packaging and consumer while financial services had the highest growth in terms mentioned. "The shortage has resulted in increased dependence on more expensive temporary labour resources, significant increases in costs as well as delays in construction," said analyst Ekta Chourasia. Zendesk, a US-based technology company, mentioned that labour shortage contributed to an increase in wages and salaries, unfavourably impacting its expenses and operating costs. Surge Components, a provider of capacitors and semiconductors, discussed that labour shortage posed challenges to its customers' engineering staff, causing delay in product approval. Consumer goods company Conagra Brands talked about persistent labour shortages affecting its capacity to effectively run production and distribution facilities. Glatfelter, a packaging company, discussed that labour shortage led to a decline in volume, impacting its profitability by approximately $900,000. "Labour shortage, along with a high demand resulting from a post-pandemic recovery, has created supply chain issues with shortage of materials and semiconductor chips, which in turn has resulted in the rise in raw material prices and wages, pushing up prices of final consumer products and causing global inflation," explained Chourasia. /IANS